Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez sweeps the ball en route to scoring 143 during the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.Among his teammates, he is popularly known as the "Professor" because of his analytical ability to explain the ins and outs of the game as well as constantly advising the skipper. Asked about it, the man himself had a broad smile on his face though his reply belied his demeanour: “I don't speak nonsense.”
After his brilliant 143, Mohammad Hafeez spoke in the intelligent vein as he has been playing on the field this year. The 31-year-old has hit a purple patch since making a comeback after a three year gap and he has credited his hard work which helped him to establish himself as a major performer in the Pakistan team.
“It was a hard time when I was out of the team, but this is the way you learn from your mistakes," said Hafeez. "I worked hard in those three years and all the experience that I got playing the first-class cricket in Pakistan and watching all the videos of the mistakes that I had done before helped me overcome it."
Hafeez also became the first spinner in 42 years to open the bowling in Test cricket and he said that he loves to take on a challenge. “I am always confident with the new ball. I have been doing it in the nets for the last year or so. And I am happy with the confidence the management has shown in me and in return, they are well aware of my state of mind. I did it in the West Indies before and also did it in the ODIs here,” he said.
Hafeez started his career as a batting all-rounder but now his bowling has become a vital component for his side. “Sometimes I laugh about it. Basically I am a batsman but bowling is very natural for me. Being a batsman I can easily read the other batsmen's mind which can be the reason for me bowling so well in the ODIs. I believe in dot balls and that's what gets me the wicket,” he explained when asked for the reasons behind his success as a bowler.
But it is batting that has brought Hafeez into the Pakistan side. The right-hander made his first Test hun dred against Bangladesh in 2003 and now hit his highest score against the same opponents. So the obvious question was whether Bangladesh is his favourite opponents. “I think a cricketer always wants to perform against every opponent. My first century was against them in 2003 and after that it was today. It's not that they are my favourite opponents, but the thing is every time you come out, you try to give hundred per cent,” he said.
Hafeez however showed huge respect to the Tigers despite their poor showing in the series.
“Well I think they have done a great job in last 8-9 years. They have learnt many things within this time. We have seen some brilliant performances from them and they are a much better side in the ODI than the Tests. The more they play, they will learn out of it. As an opponent, we always respect Bangladesh,” observed the experience cricketer.
Regarding his unfortunate dismissal where he was given out leg-before despite inside edging the Elias Sunny delivery, Hafeez said, “It's a part of the game. Sometimes you get the bad ones so I actually have no complain about it. I think all you can do is work hard and you score some big ones so it's a part of the game you have to go through some tough decisions.”
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